


Sweeter than Sugar, Sweeter than Sin

by TerrifiedAristocrat



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Carlos is Human, Cecil is Inhuman, Fae & Fairies, Kevin is Inhuman, M/M, equal parts sweet and terrifying
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-16
Updated: 2014-01-16
Packaged: 2018-01-09 00:01:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1139052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerrifiedAristocrat/pseuds/TerrifiedAristocrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos is a man of science- and as is such, he uses logic to approach problems. Problems like a portal to another universe in the janitor's closet of a local school. But when he draws the short straw and has to be the one to venture in, well... that's when things get sticky.<br/>Gift for TunefulCandour. Multichapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweeter than Sugar, Sweeter than Sin

Why had he gone in.

Well the answer to that was pretty simple- Carlos was a scientist. Scientists investigate things, especially strange glowing things that emit some strange sort of radio signal that messed with his equipment. But in the end, it was a little bit of bad luck. The team of scientists sent to examine a large, glowing portal in a janitor’s closet at a local high school had run out of tests to do, everything coming back inconclusive. The only logical course of action seemed to be to send someone in (with a cord tied around their waist, of course). They drew straws- Carlos drew the short straw. So, armed with a notebook, pen, some specimen containers and a pre-packaged syringe of diazepam (along with a nylon cord wrapped around his waist) Carlos stepped through the portal.

He ended up in a closet that looked very similar to a janitor’s closet. The air was moister and had a peculiar smell to it, something iron and sweet. He sneezed and groped around for a handle. Once one was found, Carlos swung open the door to reveal a too-brightly lit hall, harsh white light making the scientist squint. He stepped into the hall before his vision cleared, something squelching under his foot. Carlos didn’t think much of it until his vision cleared and he realized that the floor was strewn with… well, it looked an awful lot like viscera. Things crawled over various organs, black and numerous and spider-like. Carlos felt panic well up in his throat and he instantly moved to go back through the portal, to go back home.

“Hello!” a chipper voice broke through the humid air. Carlos froze, his heart hammering painfully in his chest. “You look new, are you a visitor?”

Carlos slowly turned and saw what looked like a man, standing calmly in a hallway full of organs. The man was sort of tallish, sort of shortish, with white-blond hair and black eyes. He looked vaguely like Carlos’ boyfriend Cecil, only… well, off. Carlos pressed his lips together and held up a hand slowly, waving.

“Hello. My name is Carlos.” he introduced himself, trying to speak slowly and calmly. He got the slow part down for sure, but panic still bubbled up in his throat.

“You’re human, right? Oh my gosh I haven’t seen a human in a coon’s age! This is so exciting! You can call me Kevin,” the man gushed, walking quickly up to Carlos, who tried to take a step back and found that he couldn’t. Kevin sort of… circled around Carlos in a way that reminded him of a vulture but also of a giddy child who had just received a new present.

“That implies that you’re not human,” Carlos remarked carefully, trying to follow Kevin’s movements and making himself dizzy as a result. His safety cord was now wrapped around his waist and pressing on his stomach, but Carlos ignored it.

“Nope!” Kevin replied giddily. “You humans probably would know me as one of the ‘fair folk’, right?”

“I…” Carlos furrowed his brow, staring at Kevin. The man bounced in place, just way too happy and giddy to be real. Carlos sneezed again. “Fair folk?”

“Yeep! We call ourselves fae because that’s easier to say really. Wanna tour? We don’t get guests very often, so this is super exciting!” Kevin grabbed Carlos’ hand and pulled him. The scientist balked a little but eventually had to start running in order to keep his arm from being ripped off- Kevin was strong! He had a vice-like grip on Carlos’ hand too, making him wonder what kinds of bruises he’d have later on. He felt his lifeline cord tug, as if the rest of his team was trying to pull him back. Kevin was too strong though, and after a few moments the cord went lax. Carlos was a little disappointed his team didn’t try more, but also glad since he would undoubtedly have some internal organ damage if they’d continued.

Kevin started talking animatedly about each room they passed, and half of what he said didn’t even make sense- hatching rooms? Gold storage? Sound equipment? A few of the words Kevin announced sounded Welsh or something with a lot of tongue clicking and too many syllables. Kevin’s voice sounded nice though, it was smooth and sweet and the more Carlos listened to it the more relaxed he felt. After a bit he developed a sort of buzz like he’d knocked back a few beers and with this loss of inhibitions came questions.

“ ‘Hatchery’ implies that your kind lays eggs, am I correct? How many are in the average clutch? What are the incubation conditions like? Is there a specified temperature? How large are they? Why is there viscera all over the place? What about the humidity here it feels more humid than home…” Carlos trailed off when Kevin turned to him, giving him a blank stare. The stare turned into a wide grin though and Kevin let out something like a chuckle.

“Oh gosh you’re just too adorable. I’m so glad I found you first!” Kevin giggled, pulling Carlos in for a tight hug. Carlos’ head spun and the strength in his legs suddenly left him, if only for a moment. “Oh you look tired! What kind of a host am I, come come I’ll get you somewhere comfortable!”

So Kevin pulled Carlos some more, into a warm, bright room with what looked like a round couch surrounding a table. A human-looking skull sat on the table, and dismembered dolls were scattered about the floor. At least there wasn’t any viscera though, although Carlos wasn’t sure if that was an improvement. Kevin sat Carlos down on the couch.

“Stay put! I’m going to get a spot of tea. Would you like some?” Kevin asked sweetly.

“No thank you,” Carlos shook his head. Kevin nodded and left the room.

Carlos stayed put until his head stopped spinning. Once it had cleared a little bit he peered around at his surroundings. The room was lit by something, but there wasn’t a discernible light anywhere to be found and it almost seemed like the walls themselves were emitting light.Carlos cautiously reached out and prodded one of the walls- it was hot to the touch and gave like membrane instead of a normal wall. A sort of static filled his head for a moment, with clips of conversation jammed into his grey matter about some ‘smiling god’ . But then Carlos heard someone coming so he quickly sat back down as to not seem rude to his host. Kevin entered the room, his hips swinging a little to some beat Carlos wasn’t aware of, a fancy teapot in one hand and a tray of what looked like teacups and small cakes in the other. Carlos wasn’t about to tell him that he wasn’t hungry because maybe those were for Kevin. Perhaps manners were different here. Carlos shifted in place, his head starting to ache. Maybe it was the humidity in the air, or the pressure perhaps. It felt bizarre.

“Hey Carlos!” Kevin chirped, sitting elegantly very close to Carlos. “I hope you didn’t have to wait long! Are you sure you don't want something to eat?"

"I..." Carlos trailed off- maybe his head would clear if he ate something. It had been a while, after all... how many hours? Did he have breakfast? Kevin handed him a delicate little cake and for a moment Carlos was reminded of Alice in Wonderland, with those cakes that made her grow and the drinks that made her shrink... or was it the other way around? Carlos couldn't remember. He bit into the cake and it melted on his tongue- sweet and smooth and amazingly warm. Perhaps it had some kind of liquor in it, but it didn't burn on the way down. Carlos finished the cake politely and thanked Kevin.

"Oh it's no problem! Now I know you’re probably really excited to run around and look at things but I have to tell you a few rules before I can give you a tour! Company protocol you know… need to go over the employee handbook, give you some initiation, maybe even some training!” Kevin’s words started to blur together- it was really distracting how he sat so close to Carlos and felt warm- not too warm, not stiflingly warm but deliciously warm like a hot bath or laying in bed with Cecil after a long day of-

“Tr…aining?” Carlos repeated slowly. Kevin brought a cup up to his lips and sipped it slowly, looking affectionately at Carlos from over the rim of the cup.

“Mmhmm~” he purred out, setting the cup down. “You’re the first human I’ve had but I’m so excited that the Smiling God chose me to find you!”

“ ‘had’?” Carlos repeated Kevin’s words again because everything felt sluggish and slow and that scared Carlos. He was somewhere strange with a strange man who didn’t seem to be very human and he didn’t have his wits about him- it didn’t take a genius to figure out that was a bad situation. Carlos lurched to his feet and started to run.

He followed his cord as best he could, his heart pounding in his chest and his limbs moving far too slowly than he’d liked. Carlos slipped on some gore here and there but managed to keep going, trying to ignore the pleas Kevin gave behind him.

Things were starting to look up actually- Carlos thought he recognized where he was, even though all the halls and rooms looked the same. With a little extra burst of hope, Carlos sped up, starting to give the cord home a little tug. He gave it one tug, then two tugs, and then realized with a jab of cold terror in his stomach that it had been severed.

Carlos stopped, standing in the middle of a strangely glowing hall with a piece of severed cord in his hand and tears welling in his eyes. His knees trembled and eventually gave out, leaving the scientist kneeling on the ground and shaking. Carlos didn’t even notice it at first when something touched his shoulder, smoothing across his back and pulling him into a wonderfully warm embrace.

“Shhh it’s fine.” Kevin whispered in Carlos’ ear. “It’s fine it’s fine. I’ll take care of you, I promise. You’re mine now. Nothing will ever hurt you, ever again. I promise…”

**Author's Note:**

> OK so this started out as a Christmas present- TunefulCandour was all like 'Inu gimme some Kevinlos' and I'm like 'Creepy bloody Kevinlos' and she's like 'naww sweet fluffy Kevinlos' and well...  
> This is as sweet as I can get.  
> Next Chapter: Cecil takes offense.


End file.
